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We don’t believe there is any equivalence between the prohibition of alcohol and the prohibition of trading in ivory. The ethical considerations of alcohol production do not extend as far as the extinction of large mammals… and there has never been a finite limit to the production of alcohol.

We do agree that prohibition is a blunt instrument and is unlikely to succeed on its own, and that the lessons of regulation and enforcement must be learned.

However, the failures of the past should not discourage us from attempting to do the right thing.

The ban on ivory provides for another step towards recalibrating relations between humans and the natural world. Ultimately, this will be an issue of survival, sustainability and ethics.

Speaking of ethics, we are not convinced that it is possible to deal or collect these objects without, at some level, being complicit in the whole sorry situation.